Sensory processing disorder (SPD) is a neurological disorder affecting one's ability to receive, process and respond to sensory stimuli from the surrounding environment and one's own body (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive). First studied in-depth by occupational therapist Anna Jean Ayers (then known as sensory integration dysfunction), Ayers described sensory integration as the neurological process that organizes sensations from one's own body and from the surrounding environment, making it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. Thus, one afflicted with SPD may have a reduced ability to organize and process sensory stimuli.
Unlike hearing or visual impairment, those suffering from SPD have the ability to perceive stimuli but register and process the received stimuli differently in the brain. For instance, one suffering from SPD may have the ability to “hear” or perceive sounds but lack the ability to “listen” or mentally digest and process the perceived sound in the brain. Further, delayed sensory development may also result from SPD, resulting in slow vision processing and reading abilities. For example, someone suffering from SPD may have a reduced visual field, leading to a reduction in the volume of information that may be processed through the eyes, which may in turn affect the person's academic achievement, work proficiency and athletic capabilities.
SPD may be broken down into three primary diagnostic groups including Sensory Modulation Disorder (SMD), Sensory Based Motor Disorder (SBMD) and Sensory Discrimination Disorder (SDD), with each diagnostic group exhibiting a particular set of symptoms. For instance, SMD is associated with over or under responding to sensory stimuli, SBMD is associated with disorganized motor output resulting from difficulty in processing sensory information and SDD is associated with sensory discrimination (e.g., inattentiveness, disorganization, etc.). SPD also shares relationships with other neurological disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders, which is a common comorbidity with SPD.
Sensory integration therapy was developed as a means for treating SPD and includes sensory stimulation or inhibition targeted at the tactile, vestibular, proprioceptive, visual and auditory systems. However, currently developed sensory integration therapies may not fully take advantage of the benefits provided by sensory integration. For example, current techniques may fail to stimulate each of the five aforementioned sensory systems concurrently, thus failing to fully integrate the sensory stimuli and in turn reducing the effectiveness of the sensory integration therapy. Due to the type of equipment used, there may also be errors or other issues in the delivery of the sensory stimulation to the patient. Therefore, there is a need in the art for systems and methods of multi-sensory or sensory integration therapy that provides more effective sensory stimuli to the patient. Also, it would be beneficial if such systems and methods more effectively and intensely integrate different forms of sensory stimuli as they are provided to the patient.